Allentown schools may change start and end times

District would save about $1 million in busing costs under the plan, officials say.

The exteriors of Dieruff High School (left) and Allen High School shown… (Harry Fisher/Morning Call…)

June 10, 2011|By Steve Esack, OF THE MORNING CALL

Classes could begin and end sooner in the Allentown School District under a proposal that could save taxpayers nearly $1 million a year in transportation costs next school year.

The plan, unveiled Thursday at a joint meeting of the school board's Curriculum and Finance committees, calls for new staggered start times for elementary, middle and high school students and teachers.

Currently, middle and high school students start at 7:55 a.m. and elementary students five minutes later. Teachers at all grade levels start at 7:45 a.m.

All times would change in the 2011-12 school year if the school board approves the changes.

The plan calls for elementary schools to begin at 8:45 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. Those start and end times, respectively, would be 45 minutes and 35 minutes later than the current schedule. Teachers would start at 8 a.m.

Allen and Dieruff high schools would start at 7:30 a.m. and get out at 2:40 p.m. Teachers would begin their work day 10 minutes before students' arrival.

The biggest changes, however, would be in the middle schools because students would lose a class period.

The start time for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders would be moved up five minutes to 7:50 a.m. School would end at 2:25 p.m., which means dismissal is 35 minutes earlier than the current schedule. Teachers would start at 7:05 a.m. to give them extra planning time that is needed under the district's team teaching model, which integrates curriculum across disciplines.

After the meeting, Deputy Superintendent Russ Mayo said middle school students would lose an activity period in the shortened day.

Activity periods vary among Trexler, Raub, Harrison-Morton and South Mountain middle schools. Trexler's website includes band rehearsal and jazz ensemble as activities periods at the end of the day. South Mountain's website lists drama, color guard, student council and yearbook and other groups as activities or clubs.

"They are not counting that as course time," Mayo said. "They are counting it as activity time."

Under the Pennsylvania School Code, students in first through sixth grades need a minimum of 900 hours of instruction and 990 hours in ninth through 12th grades in a 180-day schedule. The code defines "school day" as time "devoted to instruction and instructional activities provided as an integral part of the school program under the direction of certified school employees."

Factoring out lunch time, Allentown middle school students would go from 1,170 instruction hours to 1,080 in a 180-day schedule.

During the meeting, Superintendent Gerald Zahorchak said the change also would allow the district to receive a greater reimbursement rate for transportation costs from the state Department of Education. Currently, the district is reimbursed 30 percent for busing costs; the new schedule would give the district a 43 percent reimbursement rate, he said.

Andy Lechman, assistant business manager, said the district leases 132 buses from First Student to transport students back and forth from district, parochial and charter schools. If the board adopts the changes, he said, the district could save $987,000 by leasing 21 fewer buses and reconfiguring pickup sites for non-district students.

The main downside, Lechman said, is working parents may be inconvenienced. The staggered start times may make older students tardy if they have to drop their younger siblings off at elementary school.

Zahorchak said the district would help parents with the schedule change. He said parents could drop their children off early for a breakfast program that runs 30 minutes before the first bell and early morning recreational or tutoring activities.

"So we are looking to convenience, not inconvenience," Zahorchak said.

But School Director Holly Edinger called the plan horrible. She said parents would have trouble with the new times if they have to get to work. She also said the district would be creating more neighborhood nuisance problems by having middle school or high school students loitering around elementary schools waiting for their younger brothers and sisters to get out at 3:15 p.m.

But Jim Moniz, administrator for strategic initiatives, said the Allentown Police Department has been asking the district for several years to stagger its start times to reduce traffic and congestion. Moniz said staggered times would allow police to get to schools quicker in an emergency.

School Director David Zimmerman agreed. Staggering middle and high school dismissals would reduce the number of students on the street in his neighborhood around Allen High.

Under a motion by board President Jeff Glazier, the committees agreed to postpone approval of the changes until the administration presents more detailed plans on accommodating elementary school parents and children.

The board, however, may have to approve the changes anyway. The savings are factored into next year's tentative $233 million budget. The budget calls for laying off more than 200 teachers and imposing a 6.1 percent tax increase that would add $104 to the $1,791 the average property owner now pays.

Under that budget proposal, the district would seek to save between $10,000 and $15,000 on energy costs by taking Fridays off during the summer.

Chief Financial Officer Trevor Jackson said the savings would come by shutting off air conditioners in all buildings when the four-day work week runs between June 27 and Aug. 12 for year-round administrators, secretaries and maintenance employees.